Iraq and Turkey yesterday (14 September) stepped up the pressure on Iraqi Kurdistan over its planned independence referendum, as the governor of oil-rich Kirkuk province that decided to take part in the vote was sacked.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday (21 November) urged the European Union and West to step up backing of Ankara's fight against Kurdish militants, as he addressed a meeting of NATO lawmakers.

Turkey often threatens to fall out with Germany on the Kurdish issue and its president has accused the Bundesrepublik of not doing enough to tackle the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). But it seems that Germany is anything but lenient towards the group. EURACTIV’s partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.

Europe needs to up the pressure and terminate its refugee deal with Ankara, especially since the bloc only showed “concern” that Turkey arrested a number of Kurdish mayors this week, urges MEP Martina Michels in interview with EURACTIV Germany.

A car bomb exploded Monday (12 September) outside the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) headquarters in the eastern Turkish city of Van, wounding 48 people including two police officers, local authorities said.

A Spanish MEP has called upon the European Commission to launch an independent investigation into the killing of 60 people in the Turkish town of Cizre by the military on Sunday (7 February). EURACTIV Spain reports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has denounced a senior US official’s visit to Kurdish-controlled northern Syria, underlining the “mistrust” the visit has created in Ankara over the nature of Turkey’s “partnership” with the U.S.

Speaking in the European Parliament yesterday (20 January), Neighbourhood Commissioner Johannes Hahn expressed concern over growing tensions in Turkey between the government and the Kurdish community, and strongly appealed for a return to the peace process.

The aftermath of Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian warplane close to the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday morning could well have profound consequences for one of Europe’s most strategic energy relationships, writes John Roberts.

While EU Council President Donald Tusk visited Turkey on Wednesday (9 September), the leader of the country's main pro-Kurdish party warned that the country was being dragged into a "civil war" following a wave of attacks on its offices by nationalists.

For more than a month, a bitter struggle has ensued between Kurds and Islamists in Kobane (Arabic: Ain al-Arab). If the Syrian Kurdish town, on the border with Turkey, falls into the hands of the IS, this will be more than just another military victory for the "Islamic State", writes Gülistan Gürbey. If the international community continues just watching, Kobane may soon be mentioned in the same breath as Srebrenica and Rwanda, as a synonym for the failure of the international community.

A woman who helped found the Kurdish PKK rebel movement and two other women were found shot dead in Paris in the night of 9-10 January after execution-style killings that cast a shadow over peace moves between Turkey and the PKK guerrillas.

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